The story
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*naglalausaz
- Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*naglalaus
- Old English · inherited from*næġllēas
- Middle English · inherited from*nayllees
- English todaynailless
From Middle English *nayllees, from Old English *næġllēas, from Proto-West Germanic *naglalaus, from Proto-Germanic *naglalausaz, equivalent to nail + -less. Cognate with Middle Low German nāgellôs (“nailless”), Dutch nagelloos (“nailless”), German nagellos (“nailless”), Icelandic naglalaus (“nailless”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.